Name: Texas lawmakers investigate flash floods as death toll hits 137 | REUTERS
Uploaded: 2025-07-24T17:08:10.000Z
Duration: 2 min 4 s
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Texas state lawmakers met for a special session on Wednesday to address for the first time deadly flash floods that killed at least 137 people there earlier this month.

That is after many people expressed concern about vacancies at National Weather Service offices due to staffing cuts under President Donald Trump.

State Senator Lois Kohlkost is a member of the Joint Senate House Committee investigating the preparation for and response to the flooding.

What went right, what went wrong and I think that moreover and you hear it is were the warning systems in place, were they heated when they were looking at this anomaly of this tropical storm, how it could interact with a low pressure cell and the timelines were very important to me and so you know I think we're gonna have to look at how we coordinate that better and really saying this is a serious warning, you must get out, seek higher ground.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on social media the death toll from the July 4th flash flooding ticked up to 137, ranking it as one of the deadliest U.S. flood events in decades.

The high death toll has raised questions about the lack of flash flood warning sirens and hardest hit Kerr County.

Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, was the first person lawmakers called to testify on Wednesday.

He described the vast state's emergency response system as fragmented, with each of the state's hundreds of counties responsible for ordering evacuations.

Such an order was not given in the hardest hit areas earlier this month.

Kidd told lawmakers that to improve preparation for natural disasters, he needed better in-house radar systems, better communication systems to warn local leaders and residents, and more resources for evacuations or to assist residents who shelter in place.

The legislative committee investigating the floods will next meet in one week in Kerr County.

The committee will write a report to be forwarded to the full Texas Senate and House to inform possible legislation.